Adding a touch of Disney to your Holiday Displays (Part 1)

Welcome back. We love the holidays and Christmas season. I personally love the traditions, the food, the snow, the time off with my family, the spirit of generosity that seems more tangible in these few weeks, the music, and the decorations that just put me in the holiday spirit. As much as a love transforming our home for Halloween [link], I truly love decorating for Christmas. Each year we put the decorations up earlier and earlier. Anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting Disney World during the holidays has surely marveled at the breathtaking and awe-inspiring transformation the parks undergo. While our Halloween decorations are full of direct references to Disney properties we strive to keep our Christmas décor more elegant. However, anyone Disney fan with kids (especially one runs a blog based on Disney) can’t help but bring a little of the Disney magic into some of the decorations. I wanted to showcase a few of the ways we have done this.

The Tree

Let’s start with the obvious, the Christmas tree. It is probably the most iconic and the piece with the most readily available things to purchase. We put up a least 2 trees each year, one is a fancy tree the other is a fun tree. The fun tree used to have all kinds of fun pop culture oriented ornaments. Over the years it has turned into exclusively a Disney Tree.

Tree Skirt

Starting at the base with tree skirts there are a few options. Here are the two that we own. Most can be purchased at the parks, in the Disney Store, or with the shop Disney app.

The Ornaments – As for the ornaments there are so many options.

Vintage ornaments – Growing up each kid in my family got to pick an ornament. Many of mine over the years were Disney themed.

Hallmark ornaments – This is the one you are probably most familiar with. Hallmark has been making quality ornaments for years. Each year they can easily have a dozen Disney ornaments that range from quite reasonable to the more expensive ones that light up and have sounds and music.

Grolier– Yes, Grolier the encyclopedia company used to make ornaments starting in 1992. They were known as Grolier Disney Ornaments, or the Christmas Magic Collection. In 2009 they were sold to a company called Early Moments and now are sold under the Presidents Collection label. Honestly, I love these ornaments. They have done virtually every character. They may have the polish of the parks or the hallmark ornaments, but I love their simplicity. It is just the character usually with a Christmas embellishment like a hat, lights, poinsettia, candy cane, etc. I also love their poses. They really seem to interact with the tree and look like they are hanging from the branches or are riding, or sledding, down the tree.

Parks – The parks have a wide selection of unique and exclusive ornaments. They are available in various stores in the parks, at the year-round Christmas store in Disney Springs, or on Disney’s Shop Parks app. Honestly, many of the styles of ornaments in recent years are hit or miss in my opinion. They did a series of Mickey Mouse ear hat shaped ornaments. Some of them are great, but they can be a little busy and I don’t really care for the current high heeled shoe versions. That being said, there is always some great options.

The Star

For years I could not find a tree topper I liked so I used a Santa Clause hat with mouse ears as a tree topper. It worked but like the visual punch of a classic star. Disney has made a series of star toppers for years with Mickey and Minnie in various styles. They sell out quick and fetch a pretty a penny on eBay. They also are battery powered. It seems like a no brainer to make one that would plug into the light strand. I watched for 2 years on eBay to find one I liked that was reasonable in price. I finally got one in the middle of the summer and I really to love it.

Until next time…

The Imagine Ears features the DIY projects, adventures, and thoughts of a father and daughter who use a shared love of all things Disney to create memories together through encouraging her interests in architecture, design, Imagineering, while exploring history and science.

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About the Imagine Ears

This blog is dedicated to sharing the imaginative creations of a father and daughter inspired by the many worlds of Disney to create memories together through fun projects and art. Their love of all things Disney keeps the magic alive through their imagination, projects, and adventures. Most notably our scratch built HO Scale Disney themed train table and micro scale Lego Magic Kingdom. We hope our activities inspire you to IMAGINE your EARS in countless ways and to spend time with your loved ones, share the Disney magic, and make priceless memories.

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Nothing on the site is for sale. Is is simply a gallery to share the creations of a father and daughter who enjoy building memories and crafts together.